


Send Me a Mechanic If I'm Not Beyond Repair

by DustStorm262



Category: Wildemount Extended Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Detention, Gen, Running Away
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:28:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27485812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DustStorm262/pseuds/DustStorm262
Summary: Remedy wrote the last few numbers on the white-board, then turned to the blank stares of the freshmen in his class. The rush of the first few weeks of school were over, and with that came the general apathy one would expect from teenagers during the last period of the day. Their minds were definitely elsewhere, even as he spoke, explaining (again) how to recognize when to use the quadratic formula.Something he wasn’t expecting, as his gaze drifted around the room, was the student in the back. They were sitting in a cloak of all things, bright eyes shining with rapt attention despite the lack of a notebook on their desk.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 7





	1. Prologue

The bus was huge. Bigger than any car they’d seen before, anyways, though most of the cars they’d been seeing since they left were. All they’d had back in the village was a motorized cart with no doors, no windshield, and a large basket in the back that just about fit someone Flicker’s size. 

They crept towards the hulking machine, crouching to get closer to the ground, sticking behind what limited foliage there was at the rural bus stop. They did what they’d always been taught: checking where their limbs were, staying conscious of their surroundings and what could make noise, what was casting shadow where.

The driver was a human. They seemed to be glued to the door, considering how long they’d been standing there to check tickets, watching passively as people loaded their own luggage into the underside carriers. Flicker was almost worried this one would be a bust too - another night in the forest, waiting for the next bus to come around and hoping that the next driver might be less attentive.

They mentally counted out the distance. Less than thirty feet...thinking quickly, manipulating and twisting their hands while they whispered, a disembodied hand appeared by the legs of a young couple as they stepped to put their luggage into the bottom of the bus. With perfect timing, one fell, her luggage hitting the side of the bus just before her head did. 

They waited until the driver hurried over to the couple to check that they were alright. They pulled the hood to their dark cloak up, tightened the buckle around the collar, and took a deep breath. Finally, carefully, they slunk on the bus. 

If a scared teenager clinging to their backpack straps like they’d fall apart if they didn’t was out of the ordinary, Flicker couldn’t tell from the reactions of the other passengers. They settled down in a seat near the back, wrapping both their arms around the camping backpack that neatly blocked their face off from anyone who wasn’t sitting directly next to them. From there, the only thing out-of-the-ordinary about them was their shaky breaths, coming in short pants as the short burst of adrenaline wore off. 

They spared a glance out the window, jolting in their seat as the luggage doors slammed shut and the front door screeched closed. Sounds that were completely foreign to them. It looked like they wouldn’t be getting anyone in the seat next to them, which was good. Made them less likely to get spotted. 

Once the bus started moving, and the lights above turned off, Flicker finally let their shoulders sag. They finally let themselves feel the weight of the last few days sink in, and while their eyes drifted shut they felt their dagger in its sheath at their side. The pit in their chest sunk deeper, and they shifted to make the weapon just a little less noticeable on their thigh. Leaning their head back, Flicker took a deep breath, and went to sleep.


	2. An Offer is Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Remedy is introduced, and meets a strange fourteen-year-old.

Remedy wrote the last few numbers on the white-board, then turned to the blank stares of the freshmen in his class. The rush of the first few weeks of school were over, and with that came the general apathy one would expect from teenagers during the last period of the day. Their minds were definitely elsewhere, even as he spoke, explaining (again) how to recognize when to use the quadratic formula. 

Most of what he saw in front of him was exactly what he expected. Among the gaggle of bored students was a tiefling, Hummel (if he remembered correctly), very clearly doodling (but at least putting effort into looking like she wasn’t), the girl next to her, Nyx, following suit (who wasn’t putting nearly as much effort into pretending she cared about math), and the other tiefling, Cyprus, leaning in their chair so it would totter on the back two legs.

Something he wasn’t expecting, as his gaze drifted around the room, was the student in the back. They were sitting in a cloak of all things, bright eyes shining with rapt attention despite the lack of a notebook on their desk.

Glancing to the clock, seeing he had just a few minutes left, he made his way over to his desk as he spoke, reading out the list of pages and problems they should do from the textbook tonight. There was a good chance the new kid didn’t have one, and Remedy was tempted to approach them as everyone filed out of the room with the final bell, but it seemed the student had already been planning on coming up to him anyways. 

“Hey, Mister Mialeth?” They spoke with a good amount of hesitance, so Remedy tried to be casual, leaning against the desk, keeping letting his tail gently swing where it curled to hang off the deck next to him. 

“My schedule just, sort of...ends here. What do I do now?” While he had been expecting a question about school, this was entirely out of left field. His tail stilled, and he saw the student tense up.

“Well, you go home.” He put effort into sounding as casual as possible. Was the kid homeschooled? Even then, you’d think that their parents would explain what to do at the end of the day. 

“Right. Home. Go there. I can do that.” Their voice didn’t waver, but Remedy saw how they looked away, and could practically hear the cogs turning in their head on how to get home. There was no way this kid could actually do that. 

“You know what bus to take, right?” That was probably it. The kid just didn’t know what bus to take, and it’d be fine once they got onto the right one. 

“...we get buses. Right. I know which one I’m taking.” The kid really needed to work on their lying. Remedy found himself gently smiling, and straightening up. The kid took a half-step back, and Remedy froze, trying to keep his stance neutral. 

“I understand if you aren’t comfortable doing it, but I can give you a ride home, if you’d like. I’m not the kind of person who’d leave a student stranded at school.” He kept his tone steady, and gentle. The kid was obviously worried about something - maybe they just didn’t want to seem like they were so out of their depth. Still, having grown up in a city and all the stranger-danger that entailed, Remedy wasn’t especially sure how to make this offer without sounding creepy.

“No.” The answer was immediate, sharp, practically instinctual. Remedy kept himself from frowning, that would definitely only make him seem creepier, and he nodded before moving around the desk to gather his papers. 

“Alright. Busses are just outside the main doors - you’ll want to hurry to make sure you don’t miss yours.” The kid nodded when Remedy was done speaking, and headed straight for the door, cloak flowing behind them. 

As he finished packing up for the day, he tried to get the new student out of his head. Glancing over his attendance book, trying to remember the name to the face, he realized that he had no clue if they were even on the roster. As he sat down at the computer to check the digital class list, he heard someone approaching from the hall. 

“...Mister Mialeth, can I get that ride home?” The voice was shaky, and while the kid probably hadn’t been crying, it was pretty clear they were close to it. Remedy straightened up, unknit his brow and put on a smile. 

“No problem.” 

* * *

The ride was mostly spent in silence, not for Remedy’s lack of trying. It was relatively clear that the kid wanted to talk, but kept holding themselves back for some reason. Still, Remedy got some basic information out of them. They were new in town, they’d never been to a highschool before, and they were very quick to confirm that they were homeschooled. 

They gave Remedy directions on where to turn, and as they got further and further out of town, he started to piece together why the kid didn’t want to walk home. He was starting to get used to how fast the main streets of the town melted into wooded areas, over the past three years living here, and the kid didn’t look too impressed by it themselves. Soon enough they were surrounded by the woods and fields on either side of the road. They kept driving even past that, until they were a handful of miles out from the school, before the kid suddenly told him to stop.

Remedy did so. 

They were in the middle of an empty road, with woods on either side. In the distance he could make out a house, but it was still a good while away on foot. 

“You’re sure? I wouldn’t mind driving the last stretch to your house.” He was starting to get tired from how much effort he was putting into being not-visibly-concerned around the kid.

“Yeah. I like a little walk.” As they spoke they opened the passenger side door. Remedy saw his chance and took it - he waited until the kid was out of the car, and then leaned over to speak.

“I don’t think I caught your name. Can I get it for attendance?” Even to him, it was obvious he needed to work on his lying too, for all that was a half-truth. The kid paused, looked a little uncomfortable, then spoke. 

“Flicker Lulling.” They sounded confident saying their own name, at least. Remedy nodded, thanked them, and they closed the door. 

He kept driving down the road, keeping an eye on the rearview mirror as he watched Flicker walk towards the house. He did his best not to slow down too much as he passed it, but he managed to catch the name on the mailbox as he went.  _ Amaryllis. _ Nyx’s last name. Nice of her family to take in a new kid, apparently. 

* * *

It hadn’t been long enough to call what they had a “routine,” but it was certainly getting there. Flicker would stay after class, quietly skulking in the corner for those first few days, until Remedy was ready to go. From there, the two would head to Remedy’s car. For the first few days, they drove in almost complete silence, before Remedy couldn’t stand it anymore. 

He started doing his best to talk for both of them, and over the next week Flicker started opening up. The questions they asked were strange, Remedy almost wondered if they should be asking their guardians about it instead of him, but he figured that Flicker had a good enough reason to keep asking someone who was a total stranger a week ago. 

The questions varied in complexity. They spanned over everything from how ID card swiping worked, to how the internet worked, to the occasional question about what happened in math class today. 

Ultimately, it led Remedy to assume that Flicker was coming from an incredibly sheltered life, and that they were living with the Amaryllis family for the time being, maybe as a distant relative of some sort. 

Flicker had no objections when he (hopefully) casually presented his theory, so Remedy figured he’d just go along with it. Remedy was content not to question it, until one of the Amaryllis sisters showed up in detention.

Remedy gave Flicker as much warning as he could, but the kid was clearly angry that they’d have to find another way home on such short notice. He’d caught them in the hallway on the day-of, so he could understand why, but it only made the guilt he was feeling sit heavier in his chest.

They still paid attention in class, but their glare was burning a hole in the back of Remedy’s head. He felt like shit, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it, but that was a problem for another time, when he wasn’t alone in a room with three students occupying themselves. 

Nyx and one the transfer students, a half-orc, were reading. The firbolg transfer student was fiddling with an instrument, which Remedy would be more inclined to stop him from doing if he wasn’t so occupied by his own thoughts.

His mind kept wandering back to Flicker. The kid walking home, all those miles, alone, without a cell phone to call anyone if they were in trouble. 

As soon as detention was about to end, it hit him: Flicker was living with the Amaryllises, and there was one of them in the room right now. On her way out, he stopped Nyx. 

“Did Flicker stick around to get a ride home with you?” He spoke quickly, hoping for the best but getting his answer as soon as he saw the confusion on Nyx’s face. 

“No. Flicker from math class?” She cocked her head to the side just a bit, and Remedy furrowed his brow in his own confusion. 

“Yeah, that Flicker. They’re living with you, right?” Nyx only looked more confused when he spoke, and he shifted his posture uncomfortably. 

“...no, they aren’t. Have they told you they are?” Nyx spoke carefully, and Remedy’s mind raced as he tried to think of a way to backtrack. 

“No, just something I thought I heard. Have a nice day.” He offered a smile as Nyx left, giving him an odd look as she went, then turned back to gather his things from the desk. 

When he noticed someone in the doorway out of the corner of his eye, he’d assumed one of the students in detention had forgotten something. He was surprised when he recognized the short frame of Flicker standing in the doorway. After a few moments of pause, they spoke.

“...can I still get a ride home, Mister Mialeth?” They spoke quietly, almost tentatively, like they were expecting Remedy to turn them down. If he was a lesser man, he might have made Flicker apologize for earlier that day. But, instead he smiled, and nodded.

“Absolutely.”

* * *

The pit of dread in his stomach had only grown in size as he drove down the back roads to the Amaryllis household. There were only a few reasons why Flicker would lie about where they lived - maybe, possibly, they just didn’t want Remedy to know where their house was. The alternatives were less likely, and much less favorable to Flicker. There was a very real possibility that the kid didn’t have a home.

He knew what he was about to do was risky, but hopefully he’d gotten enough of a rapport with Flicker to make this seem less…predatory was a strong word. Creepy. He didn’t want Flicker to feel pressured by this. 

He barely noticed that Flicker was talking, somehow managing to mumble out his responses while keeping his eyes on the road. Something about the library, taking books out, using their school ID, if he understood correctly. Another question about after-school clubs. 

Before he knew it they were already at the usual stopping point. Flicker smiled, wished Remedy a good day, and went to get out of the car. 

“Wait.” Remedy was blurting out the word before he could stop himself. Flicker froze, eyes widening, as they stared directly at Remedy.

“...I know you’re not living with the Amaryllises, Flicker.” He tried to keep his tone level, calm, nonthreatening, but it was clear that the kid was about to panic anyways. Their grip tightened on the handle to the car door. 

“Where’ve you been staying?” He spoke carefully, trying to be conscious of where he was keeping his hands, and how he was holding himself. 

“...the woods, I have a tent. Don’t tell anyone. I’m not in danger, I’m fine, I know what I’m doing, so you really don’t need to worry at all.” Once they started speaking, they were running through the words as fast as they could. They slowly started to open the door, and Remedy knew his window of opportunity was closing.

“I have a guest room. You- you don’t have to say yes. But, if you want it, it’s yours.” 

Flicker stared back with wide eyes, holding their breath, before slowly nodding, and with a quick motion, closing the car door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pardon the rapid update, I happen to have no obligations since I was un-hired, and writing this is an excellent distraction from the world around me. 
> 
> Depending on what happens, this might be the last chapter for a while. I'll keep writing, though.


End file.
